Display hanger



' E. E. SCHAEFER Aug. 2, "1960 DISPLAY HANGER Filed Feb. 17, 1959 INVENTOR. Edward E Sc/mefe/ 2,947,421 DISPLAY HANGER Edward E. Schaefer, 1534 Park Ave., River Forest, 111.

Filed Feb. 17, 1959, Ser. No. 793,914

1 Claim. (Cl. 211-45) This invention relates to hangers and more particularly relates to improvements in display hangers of the type used to display finished dry goods such as bedspreads, draperies, or the like.

One of the problems encountered in displaying larger sized finished dry goods such as bedspreads and draperies is that of providing a hanger construction which permits a rapid and simple mounting of the goods on the hanger and removal therefrom without having to thread the goods through the hanger. Heretofore, the typical closed loop type hanger required careful threading of the goods through the hanger loop which was time consuming and often resulted in the goods becoming soiled or wrinkled.

The present invention offers a solution to this problem in the form of an improved display hanger of the type having separable crossbar and support members which permit the hanger to he slipped around or removed from a bedspread or like article without appreciably moving the article relative to the hanger.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved display hanger for finished dry goods articles, such as bedspreads, draperies, and the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved display hanger adapted for displaying bulky dry goods articles or the like, said hanger being constructed and arranged so as to be rapidly engageable and disengageable therefrom without the necessity of threading the articles through the hanger.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following detailed description and accompanying sheet of drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a display hanger constructed according to the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the display hanger in open or disconnected position;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the display hanger as viewed from the left end of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and showing details of structure at one end of the hanger; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 4 but showing details of structure at the opposite end of the hanger.

Briefly described, the present invention comprises an improved display hanger for bulky dry goods articles, such as bedspreads, draperies, and the like, having separable support and crossbar portions which permit the hanger to he slid or moved around the object to be displayed therefrom Without the necessity of threading the article through the hanger loop and over the crossbar. The support has a one-piece wire construction bent to form an integral double thickness hook, the shank portions thereof being resiliently spreadable and having integral generally horizontal extensions. The ends of the extensions depend downwardly toward the crossbar. One end of the wire support has a more or less permanent connection with the crossbar and the other end extends axially into the end of the crossbar but is detachable therefrom. The resiliency of the wire material of the support member is such as to permit the double hook portion to be distorted or spread so that the detachable end of the support becomes disengaged from the crossbar. Referring to the drawing, the display hanger generally comprises a tubular article-supporting crossbar 11 and a support member 12 which includes an integral upright hook portion 13 and laterally disposed bar portions 14 extending oppositely from the base of the book 13.

The crossbar 11 is preferably tubular in shape and may be formed from metal, plastic, or other material having suflicient strength to support the larger sized dry goods articles. The crossbar 11 includes a pair of axially spaced tubular sleeves 16 formed from rubber or similar material and non-rotatably secured to the crossbar 11. The external surfaces of the sleeves 16 may be ridged or fluted to prevent an article from sliding 011 of the crossbar 11 when supported thereon. It will be understood; that the number, spacing, and construction of the sleeves 16 may be varied as required for a particular hanger size.

The support member 12 has a one-piece resilient wire construction which is bent to form an integral double thickness hook 13 and laterally extending bar portions 14;

The hook 13 is formed by bending the support member wire into a congruent pair of superposed loops, each-loop being indicated respectively at 13a and 13b and having respective shank portions 17a and 17b which continue laterally as the bar portions 14. The loops 13a and 13b and the shank portions 17a and 17b are normally in sub stantially congruent alignment when the support member 12 is in assembled relationship with the crossbar 11, these portionsbeing resiliently movable by distortion in scissorlike fashion to permit engagement and disengagement of the support member 12 at one end of the crossbar 11 as described below.

The outer ends of the bar portions 14 are bent downwardly, as at 18 and 19, and then extend axially inwardly, as at 21 and 22, respectively, into the end openings of the tubular crossbar 11. Referring to Fig. 4, at the left end of the crossbar a cup-shaped ferrule 23, preferably of plastic material, is frictionally fitted over the tube 11 and retains a disk-shaped end member or washer 24 against the open The end wall of the ferrule 23 andthe. member 24 have aligned central openings 25 and.x26;.

end of the tube.

respectively, through which the inturned wire end 21.ex+ tends in loosely fitting relation. At the right end of the crossbar, a similar cup-shaped ferrule 27 is provided, and

a washer or disk element 28 is retained insidethe tube 11 by crimped over edge portions 29 of the tube wall. The inturned wire end 22 extends loosely through apertures 31 and 32 in the ferrule 27 and Washer 28, respectively.

The axial spacing between the downturned ends 18 and 19 and the resilient character of the wire are such that the inturned end portions 21 and 22 are normally retained in supporting engagement in the ends of the tube 11, and when an article such as a bedspread is mount ed on the crossbar, the load is borne by hearing engagement of the end portions 21 and 22 against the edges of the apertures 26 and 32. Thus, the washers 24 and 28 are preferably of metal. The inturned wire end portion 21 is relatively short in length and has a smooth exterior of uniform diameter and free of projections so that the end portion 21 can be easily inserted through and withdrawn from the apertures 25-26. Thus, the wire end 21, While normally seated in the crossbar 11, is also readily detachable therefrom. At the opposite end. of the crossbar, the inturned wire end 22 is relatively longer than the end portion 21 to permit limited sliding movement between the end 22 and the crossbar 11 but the 2,947,421 Patented Aug. 2, 1960 extreme end is bent over sharply, as at 33, so that the wire cannot be withdrawn from the apertures 31-32. Obviously, a staked protuberance or the like could also be employed instead of the bent end 33 in order to provide a non-detachable connection between the crossbar 11 and the support 12 at this end of the hanger.

The operation of the display hanger is as follows. Assuming that the hanger is in an initial assembled position, as shown in Fig. 1, and it is desired to display a bedspread or drapery therefrom without threading the latter through the hanger, it is first necessary for an operator to disengage the wire support 12 from the crossbar 11 at the left end of the hanger. This may be accomplished by concurrently grasping the tube 11 and the left-hand bar portion 14 or its downturned end 18 at the left end ofthe hanger and spreading the two away from each other such that the inturned end 21 is withdrawn from the crossbar and disengaged therefrom. During such manipulation the shank portions 17a and 17b of the hook are resiliently expanded or spread slightly, such resilient expansibility being accounted for by the one-piece wire construction of the support member 12 and the double thicknesssuperposed loop and shank portions of the hook 13. With the left end of the support 12 thus disengaged from the crossbar 11, the support member 12 can be pivoted'about the right end of the crossbar to open the hanger. The crossbar 11 may then be slid under or moved around an article to be displayed therefrom without disturbing the article from its previous position, such as on a display rack or while folded on a table. Once the article has been positioned over the crossbar 11, the end 21 is reengaged with the crossbar and the hanger together with the article supported thereon may then be moved'to any desired display position and supported by the hook 13 in a well known manner.

Another highly advantageous way of opening the hanger consists in pressing the support bar portions 14 and the crossbar 11 toward each-other by a simple hand squeezing action in the center or hook region of the hanger. By thus shortening the transverse distance between the bars 14 and the tube 11, the longitudinal dimension of the support 12 is increased sufiiciently relative to the length of the tube 11 so that the inturned wire end 21 is displaced from the end openings 2526 in the crossbar. By properly coordinating the vertical dimensions of the parts 1819, the lengths of the bar portions 14, and the axial dimension of the inturned end 21, it will be found that a moderate squeezing pressure with only one hand, as above described, will cause the end 21 literally to pop out of the crossbar end thereby providing an extremely rapid and convenient operating procedure. To facilitate such flexing or squeezing action, the bar portions are preferably arranged at a slight angle, as seen in Fig. 1, so that the bars slope upwardly from the ends of the crossbar 11 to the central hook 13 and are thus not quite parallel to the crossbar 11. As will readily be understood, this construction increases slightly the transverse distance between the crossbar 11 and the center region of the support 12 so as .to insure disengagement of the wire end 21 at least by the time the bars 14 and the tube 11 are brought into contact. In Fig. 2, the hanger is shown in a position wherein the bars 14 have been pressed toward the tube 11 so that the same are substantially parallel, and the wire end 21 has thus been forcibly withdrawn or ejected from the tube.

While only one specific embodiment of the invention has been described, it should be understood that other modifications and variations may be elfected without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

A display hanger comprising a crossbar with end openings, and a one-piece support formed from an elongated resilient wire element, said wire element being folded upon itselfcentrally to provide an upright double hook having a pair of integrally connected, side-by-side, resiliently spreadable hook portions, said wire element extending laterally at opposite sides of said double hook and having its opposite ends bent toward said crossbar and thence turned axially inwardly into said openings, one of said inturned ends being fixedly connected to the crossbar and the other of said inturned ends being removable from its crossbar end opening by resilient flexing of said support relative to said crossbar, the laterally extending portions of said wire element being spaced from said crossbar by a slight distance such that both said laterally extending portions and the crossbar can be grasped in one hand of a user, andsaid laterally extending portions being disposed at a slight angle relative to the crossbar so that the support is spaced from the crossbar at the central hook portion thereof a slightly greater distance than at the opposite ends thereof whereby to facilitate rapid detachment of said other inturned end from the crossbar upon squeezing of the central portion of the support toward the crossbar.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 112,004 Alsop .f. Feb. 21, 1871 2,374,329 Coney Apr. 24, 1945 2,590,738 Tufts Mar. 25, 1952 

